Six Sentenced in Clayton Funeral Scam That Netted $435M

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ST. LOUIS (KMOX) - Six people who worked for a Clayton-based prearranged funeral conglomerate which cheated customers and insurers out of millions of dollars were sentenced in St. Louis federal court Thursday.

The Cassitys, father and son Doug and Brent, wore dark suits as they faced a judge for having scammed $435 million.

Doug Cassity, the owner of National Prearranged Services, was sentenced to nine years and seven months in prison; Brent was sentenced to five years. The firm’s Chief Financial Officer Randal Sutton was sentenced to seven years.

Company lawyer Howard Wittner received three years in prison, investment adviser David Wolf was sentenced to ten years, and Sharon Province, another company official, was sentenced to 18 months in prison.

“They were selling prearranged funerals with the promise that the money would be there when the customers needed the funerals and, of course, the money was being siphoned off,” U.S. Attorney Richard Callahan explained outside the courtroom.